A smash hit in its native France, an arthouse sensation on this side of the ocean, and nominated for 9 Cesar awards, it's not a shock that The Weinstein Company (who distributed the original stateside) are eager to remake "Intouchables" for what they hope is an awards season contender. "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig and Colin Firth are already set to team up on the movie — titled "Untouchable" en anglais — about a wealthy quadriplegic who finds a new reason to live thanks to a plucky urban caretaker. That latter role is the one that landed Omar Sy a Best Actor Cesar over favored nominee Jean Dujardin for "The Artist." And now, a trio of actors are hoping they can duplicate that success in English.
The New York Post (via Shadow & Act) reports that among those circling the role are Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx and Idris Elba. Frankly, they are all pretty solid choices. Rock has proven he can toe that line between drama and comedy — he's pretty great in Julie Delpy's "2 Days In New York" — while the Oscar winner Foxx also seems like a no brainer. Elba could be the outside shot here, but his profile is rising day by day, and with blockbuster fare like "Thor 2" and "Pacific Rim" on the horizon — not to mention the acclaim he already has from turns in "Luther" and "The Wire" — becoming a household name isn't too far away.
Of course, none of these guys could wind up joining the cast as it all comes down to scheduling, interest and a variety of other boring factors. No word yet on when this will even roll, and with Firth kicking off production on Atom Egoyan's "The Devil's Knot" next week, it will at least have to wait until that has wrapped. But if Harvey can snag a big name that he likes to co-star, you can bet he will want this one to get moving sooner rather than later, so we'll have to see how it all plays out.